This week, Librarian Antony Ramm takes us through some of the oldest images on our recently relaunched Leodis photograph archive… This short article will explore the oldest photographs and other images on Leodis; more accurately, in fact, it will offer a brief look at what I’ve called ‘traces of Old Leeds on Leodis’. By this…
The Black Freedom Struggle in Nineteenth-Century Leeds
On the Secret Library this week we hear from guest author Dr Hannah-Rose Murray from the University of Edinburgh. Hannah-Rose will be discussing her new book entitled African American Narratives and Speeches which will published in 2022. During the nineteenth-century, African American freedom fighters and survivors of U.S. chattel slavery made radical and politicized journeys across…
My next book, Jobs for the Girls – and why I would love your help with it
This week we hear from author Ysenda Maxtone Graham, who is requesting reader-assistance with a fascinating new book project… My previous two books have been about British childhoods. In Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding Schools, 1939-1979, I wrote about the extraordinary lost world of those female establishments in the days of lino corridors,…
Novels That Shaped Our World: Life, Death and Other Worlds
Before The Lord of the Rings, before The Chronicles of Narnia and before Game of Thrones came The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison – the pioneering Leeds-born fantasy author of the early 20th-century. This week on the Secret Library blog we hear from Library Officer Philip Wilde, who talks us through Eddison, his life in…
Novels That Shaped Our World
To tie in with the BBC 100 Novels That Shaped Our World list we have organised a series of events and workshops to inspire people to read some of the amazing books that feature on the list. Here are just a few examples from our collections that came to mind when we thought of four…
Leodis has upgraded to a new site
In our blog post this week, Senior Librarian-Manager Louise Birch introduces readers and users to our exciting relaunched Leodis photographic archive… After twenty something years of the old yellowy-beige colour scheme and Louis Le Prince video we are long overdue an upgrade. The existing Leodis software was becoming outdated and had we left it any…
The Other Project: Exhibition
The Other Project, co-ordinated by Third Year Fine Art student Mia Ferullo, is a collaboration between Leeds Central Library and York St John University’s second year students. The students were divided into four groups, each being given an issue of the Leeds Other Paper. With a combination of Fine Art, Photography and Illustration students, this…
Census – A Vital Family History Resource
Librarian Louise Birch takes a look at how the valuable role the census plays in genealogy. Every 10 years a national survey is undertaken to create a picture of the households and residents of the UK. This is the National Census, and this Sunday 21st March the next one is due to occur in England…
